MELBOURNE, June 21 (Reuters) - Top global miner BHP Billiton BHP.AX BLT.L expects to boost its coal output by 8 percent over the three years to June 2018, and plans to cut costs by 16 percent over the next year to boost profits in a tough market.
The world's top exporter of metallurgical coal used for steelmaking said on Tuesday it expects to cut costs at its Queensland coal business by 9 percent to $52 a tonne in the next financial year.
That compares with metallurgical coal prices which averaged more than $90 a tonne in the June quarter.
"We will unlock further productivity, reduce costs and release latent capacity," the company said in slides prepared for an investor presentation.
BHP expects to produce 42.5 million tonnes of metallurgical coal in the year to June 2016, rising to 44 million tonnes in the 2017 financial year and 46 million tonnes the following year.
"The developing world needs steel, steel needs coking coal, and we have the strongest resource position in the seaborne market," BHP Billiton Minerals Australia president Mike Henry said in a statement.
BHP Billiton owns nine coking coal mines in Australia's Queensland state with Japanese partners Mitsubishi Corp 8058.T and Mitsui & Co 8031.T .